Grants, Country Stars, Parking and a Withdrawal

Photo by Evan Brandt

Members of Pottstown Borough Council and staff celebrate the receipt of a $10,000 grant from PECO's Green Region program during last night's work session.

It was a busy night at borough council last night, with the announcement in $40,000 in grants being received, all for work in the borough's two largest parks, and a musical event planned for Memorial Park that will feature country star Hunter Hayes.

All of which is good news for Pottstown.

But the big surprise of the evening came at the end.

Council Vice President Sheryl Miller announced she will not seek reelection to another four-year term. She represents the Third Ward and was running unopposed.

She said the effort of being on borough council -- and the many ancillary activities she has taken on as a result of that role -- have proven too exhausting.

"I don't think I have another term in me," she said, adding that she had already alerted the elections board in Norristown of her withdrawal.

That means there is currently no candidate running for the Third Ward seat on council.

Must be time for all the loudmouths on Facebook who say they will "remember this at election time" to step up and show everyone how they can do it better.

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Also of interest was a presentation by the stalwart folks at Rockwell Development Group who are trying to overcome the obstacles the borough building code puts in their way and redevelop the derelict shirt factory at the corner of Cherry and South Charlotte streets.

And by obstacles I mean the only thing that is always an issue in Pottstown -- parking.

Evidently the Zoning Hearing Board rejected the developer's request for a variance from the parking requirements, but they're still plugging, although they did confess this was their "last swing."

So the solution being proposed is to make Charlotte Street between Cherry Street and Industrial Highway one-way headed south. That would allow 18-parking spaces on each side of the road, and get them closer to the 54 spaces they need -- lowered since they eliminated one apartment from their project.

They're asking for support from council and we'll all find out Monday whether they get it.

In the meantime, here are the Tweets from last night's meeting.